Buy-to-let mortgage gets reprieve

Landlords concerned about the prospect of the EU killing off the Great British buy-to-let mortgage have been granted a reprieve after a committee scrutinising the European Commission's mortgage credit directive voted to allow the UK to exclude buy-to-let mortgages from the new rules.  Property Hawk has been campaigning against the new rules and with over 3000 landlords signing our petition to date we know that you feel the same.

We have always been clear in our opposition arguing that it would prejudice investment in the private rented sector and particularly prevent newbie landlords investing in property for the first time as the judged affordability by lenders would have to be based on an individuals income as a posed to the relationship between the rent and cost of borrowing (an initiative which heralded the arrival of buy-to-let in the the late 90s).

Landlords cannot breath a complete sigh of relief yet though.  The amendments to the original proposal must now be voted through the European Parliament.   The European Council will then decide its position and then the three bodies, the council, parliament and commission will then enter negotiations over the final text.

The saga looks set to continue although the outcome looks more promising.  We'll keep you posted!

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Stamp duty holiday ending

Effects of the Stamp Duty Holiday Ending
As we all know the stamp duty holiday ended earlier on in the year. Before it came to an end there was a sudden rush to purchasing a home but since then, the property market has become a little dormant, this is according to new figures from Halifax.

The value of properties have declined by 0.1 per cent annually and currently prices seem to be making little change and on average are around £160,941.

However, when considering what happened in May, house prices have risen by 0.5 per cent which means the continued rise and fall of property prices remains erratic and unpredictable. This 0.5 per cent increase when compared to April was actually a 2.3 per cent decline.

Most property market reports have been significantly influenced by the stamp duty holiday coming to an end. The break meant that first time buyers didn’t have to pay stamp duty for properties that were valued under £250,000 before the end of March.

The amount of buyers that were seen in March meant that in April, when the stamp duty had to be paid again, the amount of sales declined by 18 per cent. Halifax predicts that without any support in a similar way to the holiday, this may mean that property prices will remain stagnant.

Martin Ellis, who is the chief economist at Halifax said, “We expect this situation to continue with prices likely to still be around today’s levels at the end of 2012 as the ongoing tough economic environment constrains the housing demand.

“Recent monthly house sales figures have clearly been affected by the ending of the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers in late March.”

Whilst this is bad news for first time buyers it is great for landlords who are still seeing an increased rate of people looking to rent and for the landlord industry as a whole, including landlords insurance companies who are seeing an increase in people renting out properties and purchasing cover. 

BTL mortgages best products

Max LTV	Initial Rate	Term	Completion fee	Booking fee	Incentives	Overall Cost for Comparison
80%	4.79% Discount	2 Years	£2999	£130.00	No	8.2% APR
80%	5.99% Fixed	Jul 31 2014	£1100	£199.00	No	6.5% APR
75%	4.98% Fixed	2 Years	£1999	£0.00	Free legal fees for remortgage	5.7% APR
75%	4.89% Fixed	Aug 31 2014	£995	£0.00	No	5.1% APR
75%	5.35% Fixed	Jun 30 2014	3%	£150.00	No	6.1% APR
70%	4.25% Discount	2 Years	0%	£199.00	Free valuation up to £335 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	6% APR
70%	3.74% Discount	Jul 31 2014	£899	£0.00	No	5.9% APR
65%	3.99% Tracker	Jun 30 2014	0%	£250.00	Free valuation up to £700 for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	4.7% APR
65%	3.49% Tracker	Aug 31 2014	3.5% (min £595)	£0.00	No	5.2% APR
60%	3.89% Discount	May 31 2014	£999	£0.00	Free valuation for purchases and remortgages and free legals on remortgages only.	5% APR
60%	3.25% Discount	2 Years	£1750	£250.00	No	5.3% APR

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Email: info@propertyhawkbtlmortgages.co.uk

Tel: 029 2069 5446

IMPORTANT! Due to current market conditions, lenders are withdrawing and replacing products with little or no notice. Please check our website regularly to see the most up-to-date products available.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgages.The Financial Services Authority does not regulate some forms of mortgage.

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Auction Yields Results

Property Hawk is constantly reminding property investors to pay attention to the rental yields of any potential property investment.  The latest yield analysis from Allsop's regular auction on the 29th 31st of May reveal that it's still possible to get healthy yields from residential property bought at auction let with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.  Of the 265 lots that were sold 79 were residential properties sold with an AST.  The average yield on these properties was 8.7%

The next residential auction takes place on the 17th & 18th July.

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66% of landlords not increased rents

A recent survey of landlords by the NLA reveals that two thirds of landlords have not increased rents in the last 12 months. 

Despite rents being on an upward trajectory many landlords seem to be content to be fully let rather than go for 'top dollar'.  If you are interested in increasing your rent then check out my recent article on Increasing the rent.

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Do landlords need letting agents?

Landlords have an uneasy relationship with letting agents.  Many of us get tired of paying large fees out for no real apparent service.  I'm talking in particularly about management fees paid to letting agents employed on a managed service where letting agents are allegedly responsible for managing all aspects of the tenancy including dealing with maintenance and non payment issues.

A recent survey carried out by the NLA suggests that over a half (55%) of landlords engage the services of a letting agent, with 66% are either very or quite satisfied with their agency.  Are you satisfied with your letting agent or do you feel you are being over charged and under served?

My experience to date is that I found letting agents very useful for the letting of my properties.  They seem to be able to do it more quickly than using some of the free and paid for advertising property portals. This could just be that my letting agent is pretty good or maybe it's a function of the current market where there is a shortage of reasonable quality property to let.  I've tried a full management service by letting agents but found that I was shelling out hundreds of pounds for not much.

Do landlords really need letting agents?  It would be interested to here from both sides of the debate...

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